In general, captive panel fasteners comprise three main components, a screw, a cap and a ferrule. The screw is first attached to the cap and then the screw and cap are assembled to the ferrule. All parts are typically composed of metal with the cap being formed from relatively thin-walled aluminum that is easily deformable. The headed screw includes a threaded elongate shank that extends downward through a bore in the ferrule beyond its base. The base of the ferrule includes attachment means for securing the ferrule to a panel. The screw is slidable within the ferrule between retracted and extended positions. The screw is fitted with a surrounding cap that extends downwardly around the screw and at least a top portion of the ferrule. The top of the ferrule includes securing means to prevent the screw/cap assembly from being pulled upwardly out of the ferrule. One means of attachment is a radially extending flange at the top of the ferrule which abuts an inwardly extending ring at the bottom of the cap. The top of the ring and the bottom of the ferrule flange abut when the screw is in the fully retracted position. The ring at the bottom of the cap is preferably integrally formed with the cap when assembled to the ferrule by bending over the metal bottom edge of the cap inwardly once the cap and the screw have been placed onto the ferrule.
A problem exists with the prior art in that the cap must be machined at a high cost due to the amount of material that must be removed as scrap. Once formed, the cap must then be assembled to the screw as one of the steps in the assembly process. If one wishes to add color to the cap, color can be applied through anodizing or painting but wear of the part can cause chipping of the color leaving a product with a shabby appearance.